The Ginger With a Temper
by Teish
Summary: Aryna gets a message, a message from a friend who she thought had died. The Doctor has a lot of explaining to do... Note: It might be helpful if you read Ali'Sha Kalantar's "Trinity Vector" first.


**Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Dr. Who, Aryna is my own character though, and Tria has been borrowed from Ali'Sha Kalantar.**

_Author's Note: Ali'Sha Kalantar has kindly allowed me to borrow Tria. You can read more about Tria in the story "Trinity Vector". This will make more sense if you read Ali'Sha's story first. ;-)_

Aryna was hidden underneath her TARIDS console, tinkering, and carrying on what most non-telepaths would believe to be a one-sided conversation.

"What is this!? How many times are you going to fry _this_ particular circuit….Yes, yes, I know, the rules of Time are a little over-cautious, but I'd still rather avoid landing my TARDIS _inside_ my TARDIS…. Overreacting? Do you know the kind of paradox that it would create!? That's the last thing that I need…. Well, why didn't you tell me that to begin with….Of course it would have made a difference…. I _can_ redesign it you know…. Yes, I'll make sure that the new one doesn't hum at that particular frequency…."

She popped her head out from under the console and patted it reassuringly, "Not at all, that's what I'm here for old girl."

A light on the opposite side of the console began to blink rapidly. Aryna's eyes widened and she stood staring for the briefest moment, an eternity for a Time Lady. Suddenly, she dashed over to the panel and began frantically working the controls, "I know it's a signal from another TARDIS! Not completely daft yet…. Wait, it's not from the Doctor!"

The transmission was pre-recorded, not real-time. But there was something strange about it… It seemed almost like it originated from an alternate universe. The question was, "Why?" She finally got a lock on the recording and turned to a screen to watch it. As it played, Aryna's face drained of all color.

"Tria," she whispered as her memories drifted back to the night that she had left Gallifrey…

?????????????

Aryna had met two of her closest friends when they were running away from something. Now, it was she who was running away. Running from her grief. One of her friends was helping her do it.

Tria had found Aryna on her knees, sobbing out her pain and anger. Tria sank to her knees in front of her friend and wordlessly put her arms around her. Aryna whispered, "He's gone Tria," and cried even harder for a long time. Finally, her tears subsided and her wracking sobs quieted. Tria took Aryna's hands in hers and spoke, "What can I do? What do I need to do to help you?"

Aryna's answer surprised her, "I want to leave Gallifrey," she announced, "I _have_ to leave. Tonight. Will you help me?"

Tria was quiet for a few moments while she thought about how to fulfill this request. She smiled as an idea occurred to her, "Well, it worked for the Doctor, didn't it? Come on, let's get you packed." Tria pulled Aryna to her feet and the next hour was spent in a rush of preparations.

The two Time Ladies slipped quietly through the city. Luck seemed to be on their side, and they moved about unnoticed. Tria guided her to an antiquated and unwanted TARDIS. Aryna regarded it with wonder, "It's a Type 40," she breathed, "However did you find it?"

Tria grinned and winked at her, "I have resources. Ones you'd rather not know about!" She shrugged a bit and continued, "Maybe it was just meant to be Aryna. Maybe she'll bring you some of that insane luck that the Doctor seems to have."

Aryna opened the door to the TARDIS, and then turned to face Tria. "Thank you. I… I can't tell you how much I appreciate all that you've done. I hope that I see you again soon, but I suppose things seldom work out the way that we plan," she remarked with a wistful half-smile.

"Don't worry, you'll be seeing me again," Tria assured her with a smile, "Never know who you'll bump into out there."

The sound of footsteps approaching made it necessary for Aryna to cut their conversation short, "Good-bye Tria!" she threw over her shoulder as she rushed into her TARDIS. She wasn't sure quite where to go first, maybe Earth. The Doctor was always quite fond of Earth. She took a deep breath and started entering coordinates.

"Well now," she addressed the abandoned TARDIS, "Perhaps we can help each other.... Any ideas about where on Earth we should go….Glasgow. That sounds perfect."

?????????????

Aryna burst out of the red Police Box that had just materialized and strode purposefully up to the blue Police Box that she had spent the better part of the day looking for, and started pounding on the door. It had taken time to track down the Doctor's TARDIS, and she would have guessed that her temper would have cooled a bit by now. This red-headed incarnation of herself seemed to have one incredible temper, and the Doctor was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it. Finally, after a good bit of banging on the door and yelling for him to let her in, the Doctor opened the door and poked his head out.

"Aryna?" he questioned with a look of puzzlement, "Why didn't you just use the spare key that I gave you and let yourself in?"

He stepped back as she wordlessly stomped past him into the control room. As soon as he shut the door she turned on her heel and landed her fist solidly on his jaw. It was the last thing that he expected and he stumbled back partially from the force behind her punch, and partially out of shock that she _would_ throw a punch at him. "What?!" was all that he could manage to get out before she started her rant.

"How _DARE_ you!" she spat out, "How dare you do that to her! What gives _you_ the right? You save her life only to force a regeneration and then maroon her in another dimension! I should throw you out of a TARDIS into the vortex for that!" She stood, arms tightly crossed, and leveled him with a glare that would make even a Cyberman cower in fear. '_If looks could kill…'_ he mused.

It took him a moment to sort out what she was saying, but it didn't take long for him to connect the dots and figure out who she was talking about, "Tria," he whispered regretfully.

"Yes Tria!" she raged at him, pacing circles around him as she spoke, "What were you thinking? You think it's better for her to be trapped, alone? Who are you to make that decision for her?!"

"If I'd given her a choice she would have stayed and died with the rest of them!" he snapped back at her.

Slightly surprised by his outburst, Aryna stopped pacing and stepped back. At this point, she had already incited his anger. He wasn't called the Oncoming Storm for nothing.

The Doctor stood toe to toe with her, looking down at her with dark eyes flashing with barely-contained outrage, "How dare _you_! Barging into _my_ TARDIS and assaulting me without ever asking me what my side of the story is! Your arrogance is truly astonishing, even for a Time Lady, and that's no small feat! Who are you to judge _me_?!"

"Who am I? _Lady_ Aryna, of Gallifrey, _Doctor_," she ground out, "You think I'm arrogant? What about you? Constantly making choices for others because you think that you know best, and then getting angry with _me_ for questioning you?!"

The two Gallifreyans stood, locked in a verbal battle. Each refusing to yield even a millimeter. It could go on for a very long time, but the TARDIS was rather tired of their ridiculous temper tantrums, and decided to take matters into her own hands. Two heads whipped around to stare incredulously at the control panel as the TARDIS dematerialized. She was no sooner in the vortex then she pitched violently to one side, sending both of them crashing to the floor. She immediately righted herself and waited to see if her actions had cooled their heads enough for them to have a civil conversation.

Aryna sat up and rubbed the back of her head, "Ouch! What'd you go and do that for?" she addressed the testy ship. Listening for a moment she nodded and replied, "Yeah, well I think you got your point across, vividly." She pulled herself to her feet and turned to offer the Doctor a hand.

"What? Not going to take this opportunity to kick me while I'm down?" he asked bitterly.

"Don't tempt me," she murmured.

He took her hand and as soon as he was on his feet he dusted off his suit and eyed the TARDIS warily.

"She has a point," Aryna remarked reluctantly.

"How so?"

"It _is_ pretty foolish for us to lose our tempers like that, rather than just having a calm conversation. It's not like yelling at each other has solved anything, has it?" She plopped down on the jump seat in the control room and pressed her lips together firmly. She did not take constructive criticism very well; neither of them did, actually.

The Doctor sighed heavily and sat down next to her, "You started it."

"You deserved it," she replied flatly.

"Neither of us is going to admit that we were at fault, are we?"

"I think it's pretty safe to say that we can share the blame for this one."

The Doctor nodded, "Yep," he said, popping the 'p' as he was prone to do in his present incarnation.

"You should have told me that she was still alive. She's my friend too. Finding out like this… it wasn't a good thing," she explained, never meeting his gaze.

"I know," he replied quietly, "It's not something I want to think about, let alone talk about. I understand why you think it was a horrible thing to do to her, but I just had to save _someone_. I was poised to bring about the destruction of our entire race, and I couldn't have that on my conscience without also knowing that I'd help at least one of us survive. This was the only way that I could think of to keep her from burning with the rest of the Time Lords… I'd lost so many friends, Aryna, and I thought that I'd lost you too. I know what Tria means to you, and even though I hadn't been able to save you, I was able to save _her_. Perhaps wandering alone isn't much better, but at least she's alive, Aryna."

Aryna sat quietly, with her eyes closed for several minutes before responding softly, "Thank you. You're right, she does mean a lot to me. Tria has been my friend for nearly as long as you have. She's the one who was there for me, who helped me leave Gallifrey after he…" Aryna swallowed hard and continued, "When he…" she trailed off, unable to finish the statement.

The Doctor put an arm around her shoulders, "I know. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you then."

"No, it's alright. You've been there when I needed a friend countless times. I'm sorry I punched you."

To her surprise the Doctor laughed, "I never would have guessed that you had _that_ in you. Wherever did you learn to land a punch like that?"

"Jack," she answered tersely.

He raised an eyebrow, "_Jack_ taught you that?"

"No, Jack is the _reason_ I learned to do that."

This elicited a round of laughter from the Doctor, and Aryna couldn't help but join in.

"I'd have loved to see that one," he gasped as he was catching his breath from the laughter, "How did you find out about Tria?" he questioned, changing the subject.

Aryna turned serious once again, "She found a crack in the walls between dimensions. She was able to send a message through. There's a bit of a time delay, but I was able to get back into contact with her," she hesitated for a moment, "She's fine," she continued gently, "She's doing well. Lonely, but we both know that loneliness isn't fatal, don't we?"

"I wish," he began with a sad smile, "I wish that there had been another way. Still, I am glad that she's safe, and because of that, I wouldn't change any of my actions."

"You're right," Aryna conceded, "Tria's safe, and that's all that really matters. However, if you do meet her again through some grand cosmic mishap, then she might make that blow to your chin seem like a tickle."

"Is she really that upset?"

"Yeah," Aryna said in a way that reminded him of Donna, "Let's just say that if you ever meet up with her in person, I want to be there to witness it."

"Well, we know whose side _you'd_ be on, don't we?"

She grinned, "Us Time Ladies have to stick together Doctor."

"I don't think that I'd be able to handle the both of you," he mused.

"Really? I can't believe that you'd actually admit that!"

The Doctor shrugged, "Well, you're _almost_ a match for me just by yourself, Aryna."

"Almost!" she cried indignantly, "Why you arrogant…" and was silenced by a warning shudder from the TARDIS. She threw herself against the back of the jump seat with a huff.

The Doctor studied her for a moment then commented, "I don't think I've ever seen a temper like this in you before. You've always been quite vocal and authoritative, but usually managed to keep a cool head."

She tugged on a strand of short red hair, and sighed, "Ginger."

"Really? You think so? Well, perhaps I should rethink hoping to wind up ginger. I mean, I can't exactly just go around constantly in a mood."

"I think it's time that I get back to my own TARDIS before you wind up with a black eye," she remarked sourly.

"See, that's my point!"

Aryna stood and rummaged around in her pockets. She produced a key and held it out to her friend, "Do you want this back? I'll understand if you do, really I will. What I did, what I said, was… inexcusable… I'm sorry."

The Doctor took a deep breath, "Nah, you should keep it. I'm not giving you your key back, so you may as well keep mine. We're still friends, Aryna; nothing is going to change that. Besides," he said with a crooked grin, "What sort of friend would I be if I ostracized you every time we had an argument? Our friendship would never have lasted this long."

Aryna returned his smile, "As I recall, Tria broke up a few of our 'debates' when we were a bit younger."

"I think ALL of our acquaintances did that at one point or another," he chuckled. He began to poke buttons and twist knobs in that unorganized, almost frantic way of his and concluded, "We had better get you back to your TARDIS."

They materialized back where they had started from and the Doctor stepped out to see that Aryna got back to her TARDIS. She stopped short, and turned to face him. What she did next surprised him even more than the punch she threw at him had. She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly for several moments, "Thank you, my friend. Thank you for so many things."

He returned the hug. "Over eight hundred years, and you still manage to surprise me, Aryna. Take care of yourself, and tell Tria," his voice broke just slightly, "Tell her that I'm sorry. Tell her that I'm glad she's alright."

"I will," she promised, and then stepped away from her friend. "I'll see you later Doctor."

"Next time, give me a little warning?" he implored.

Aryna winked and gave him a mysterious smile before disappearing into her TARDIS. Seconds later the red box dematerialized, and both of them resumed their journeys. Aryna, already trying to figure out a way to bring her friend back home.


End file.
